As The Crow Flies 11.14.08: Declaration of Indie-pendence

Posted by Chris Crowing on 11.14.2008

An attempt at patriotism, an overview of the Scottish contribution to popular music. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honors that we play, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself. But a gold record would be nice...

If you hadn't already noticed, I'm not an American or a Canadian like most of the folks who frequent and read this site; I'm a Scot, a Celt, a Caledonian, a child of the Old World. I am a passionate patriot for my land, and I am proud to call myself a Scot, but in writing my first two columns, it struck me that I didn't reference a single Scottish band, while looking over two of the more prevalent musical genres of the last thirty years. I found that rather depressing, especially when I was espousing the fact that most of the great Grunge bands came from near enough one city, and Seattle (with roughly half a million inhabitants) is the same size as Glasgow. Why hasn't Scotland produced a musical wave as widespread and influential as Grunge? Or have we and I didn't notice? As ever, the best place to start is the beginning...


As The Crow Flies over…Scotland

A potted history is in order to start. I take popular music as we recognize it today to have come about in the 1950s and 60s, once the unit of choice for the music industry moved from the popular sheet music for your local dance hall bands to play, to records of well known recording artists. It seems that it took a while for this to happen in Scotland and the country seemed resistant to the rock and pop music overtaking the rest of the world (while the big bands of the days were popular in Scotland, it didn't seem to inspire anyone to follow suit,) being far happier with the 'roots revival' form of folk music, as personified by the Corries who penned the unofficial national anthem "Flower of Scotland."

There is a far more pervasive and terrifying form of 'folk' music, which seems to characterize the Scottish image abroad to this very day, and this is personified by Andy Stewart and his White Heather Club. If you are of a strong constitution, I suggest you look it up on YouTube, and you'll see why I hate it so.

I feel it is worth saying at this point, that the image of Scotland as an antiquated rural idyll, with it's small Victorian cities populated by jolly drunks and it's rolling hills by thrawn farmers and haughty lairds is somewhat wide of the mark. While Scotland does have a LOT of stunning scenery and a vibrant cultural heritage and all that nice http://www.visitscotland.com stuff, the majority of the population live in cities pretty much similar to those in the USA, Canada, France, Japan or wherever. We have Starbucks, I-Pods, Chinese takeout, multiplex cinemas, inner city gang violence, out of town shopping centers and trains that don't run on time. Sure, there are cultural differences but that's a longer essay by a more qualified writer than me. I feel that's worth saying as even when I visit with family who live in England, their neighbors seem genuinely surprised that I'm not chasing three legged Haggis around the hills and living in a cave. Stereotypes are wonderful, scary things. Anyway, back to topic.

Folk continued to be Scotland's main musical output through the sixties and seventies - although Lulu became a mainstream pop star in the 60s, with songs like "Shout" - with the likes of Bert Jansch, the Tannahill Weavers and Runrig at the forefront. I don't want to continue to discuss folk all the way through the column, as I want this to be about modern popular music, which can be influenced by, but should not be limited to folk music. Suffice to say that Scotland continues to be a hotbed for folk music, and events like the yearly Celtic Connections festival continue to thrive and grow, and many Scottish folk stars now make the majority of their money playing to the lucrative American and Canadian markets, where the local folk stars pay homage to their lineage in the old world.

FINALLY, the second half of the seventies gives me some not-folk to talk about, with the the Bay City Rollers becoming genuine international pop stars (as extolled to me by my auntie who says she really, really wanted flares with great big tartan hems, and that "Shang A Lang" was really cool once) and the Average White Band, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Nazareth having a degree of success at home & abroad.

Scotland provided a few important bands to the punk era, with the Exploited having comparative success, given the aggressive nature (for the time) of their sound. The Exploited have been sited as a big influence on some of the immensely popular pop-punk bands of the 90s, such as Green Day and Rancid. Continuing the trend of nominal success followed by massive influence, Edinburgh's the Vaselines made a small buzz in the Scottish punk scene in the mid eighties, and of course made a certain mark on Kurt Cobain, resulting in Nirvana covering a few of their songs and consequently having the same effect on their career as Metallica did for Diamond Head. Put it this way, I can play three Vaselines songs on guitar, and it's the three that Nirvana covered - that's quite sad really....

It was the 1980s that saw Scottish music come to the fore, with the undoubted global success of Simple Minds and the lesser successes of Deacon Blue (from my lovely hometown of Dundee), Marillion and even the respectable and critical success of bands like Orange Juice, Danny Wilson and others too numerous to mention. It is here that my assertion that Scottish bands never make it 'truly' big as Simple Minds were HUGE in the mid eighties, earning a spot alongside the heavyweight of New Wave, u2 and the Cure easily holding their own in the chart and in scale of touring with the likes of the Smiths. While their success is nowhere near that of Simple Minds, I feel I need to push a nod towards the incredibly influential and immense Cocteau Twins (named for an obscure Simple Minds song) and the Blue Nile. Check them out, you'll thank me. Also worthy of note is Midge Ure's contributions, most notably in his revitalization of English band Ultravox.

I'll be shot if I don't mention theJesus & Mary Chain. While never realizing massive sales, with their 60s tinged, yet very aggressive rock the band were a huge influence on the nascent Grunge scene, thousands of miles away, and are considered a pioneer of the indie scene in the UK. Their debut album Psychocandy is widely considered a classic, landmark release.

Nonetheless, the turn of the decade saw most of these acts surpassed and Scotland's children again found themselves in the dank and miserable corners of indie-dom. I'll be perfectly honest, and say that the potted history up to this point is gleaned from conversations with older music aficionados and such worthy sources as Wikipedia, it is openly now that my tale reaches the 1990s, and the time period of my personal memory that I can really get into the meat of the issue.

Growing up as an indie-kid in the mid 90s meant I loved Oasis and through them a wide and successful indie scene including the likes of the Seahorses and Ocean Colour Scene. The only Scottish act to really crack the mainstream in this time was Primal Scream and I'll admit I never really liked anything they've ever done except maybe "Rocks". There was also Edwyn Collins (formerly of Orange Juice) and his mega-hit "A Girl Like You" as well as some more folksy, yet contemporary contributions by the likes of Del Amitri and the Bards of Leith, the Proclaimers. That said, under the mainstream, in the background, in the coffee shops and libraries, there were some very interesting bands making some very quirky, interesting music.

Let me set the scene - Scotland is a nation of universities and colleges, in far higher number and density than the meager 5 million population would suggest. From the old venerable institutions like St. Andrews University in Fife, and the University of Glasgow through the modern former polytechnic's like Abertay University in Dundee, and Stowe College in Glasgow, there is a wide and fecund breeding ground for introspective academics, and the music they like to listen to and create. Thus it seems to me that Scotland has, in recent years be a world leader in quirky indie music, led by the nicer than nice, library room & coffees shop urban dramas of Belle & Sebastian (and the many bands influenced by them, such as Camera Obscura and the quirky electronic tinged sound of Fife's the Beta Band.

In doing my research for this column, many friends and contributors have savaged me for writing these bands off as underground, as they have large worldwide followings, and have been critically acclaimed their whole career. I'll agree they are popular and well thought off by a certain kind of musical intelligentsia, BUT (and this is important for my argument) they are not hugely 'big' even in Scotland. Belle & Sebastian usually play venues that hold less than a few thousand - big bands sell out 10'000 seat arenas, often for a couple of nights at a time and regularly over the course of many years. You might disagree with that assessment, but it's the definition of 'big' that I'm using here. Oasis are big, Pearl Jam are big, u2 are huge - Belle & Sebastian are admired and reasonably successful.

I think it says a lot that the best advertisement B&S and the Beta Band ever got was in the John Cusack movie, High Fidelity where he decided to talk about Belle & Sebastian and also challenged himself to see five copies of the Three EPs by the Beta Band (which he did.) The fact that this move was largely for and about music snobs must say something about these bands and their fans. Some of my friends are going to kill me....

I need to make a quick mention of Edinburgh's Shirley Manson who has made a huge smash as front woman of Garbage, but I must make a judgment and say that for all I consider her to be a marvelous ambassador for Scotland, and womankind as a whole, her main body of work is in an American band. Now if only Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie had made it big...

I also need to throw a bone to Mogwai who are another Scots band who've never exactly troubled the hit parade but they are an immense contributor to the growing international post-rock scene, drawing favorable comparisons to the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and I can attest that they are a fearsome force live, and have a significant international following.

Back to topic again (sorry, I am tending to ramble just a bit here) but Scotland also produced a number of bands who would find genuine success in the late nineties. Such as Travis who were the biggest band in the UK for a time with The Man Who and the Invisible Band albums. The fact that Dave Grohl strummed out "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" when the Foo Fighters played the Barrowlands in 1999 also suggests to me that Travis made waves overseas as well. Nowadays they are unfortunately in reduced circumstances, having been a bit absent (what with fatherhood and such time consuming things) and seem to have fallen from their status as festival headliners. Shame, I quite like them....

There are also Northern Ireland's Snow Patrol - who I am claiming for Scotland, as they met and did all their 'playing pubs and student unions' musical apprenticeship in Dundee, before moving off to Glasgow and the full UK circuit to eventually make it big. From their modest debut Music for Polar Bears up to their 2006 album, Eyes Open's mega hit "Chasing Cars" they have (I am told) become a genuine international success, as well as being big over here. Their new album is out now here, and soon over the pond - check it out.

Franz Ferdinand's version of arty indie was huge for a while here, and I am told by some correspondents on rateyourmusic, that they are well thought of abroad. It always seemed to me that they had one hit album, a so-so follow up, and had then made enough money to sit back and be intellectual. Hell, "Take Me Out" and "Michael" are great singles anyway. It seems my objectivity for how big acts actually are is a little skewed.

One band who I love, yet feel never quite made it huge are Idlewild. Their first records are full of punk energy, mixed with some Smiths influences and more than a little of the 'folk aesthetic' and I would recommend Captain, Hope is Important, 100 Broken Windows and even the Remote Part to anyone. As they progressed through time, their lineup changed etc. etc. they mellowed, and I don't have the same affection for their more recent albums. But that's just me, and singer Roddy Woomble has become a respected folk artist (and newspaper columnist) in his own right, and it seems Idlewild join the long list of Scottish bands who look over the edge of crossover success, don't like it, and backtrack to a kind of financially comfortable, critically acclaimed respectability. I'll expand on this idea later.

This brings us up, pretty much towards the present day. In recent years new acts have achieved prominence, most notably singer/songwriter KT Tunstall who seems to be doing well in bigger markets than here (the US) and the likes of Amy MacDonald and Sandi Thom are replicating the formula with lesser, yet still notable success.

There has also been a new raft of indie acts which are doing rather well such as the Fratellis, Paulo Nutini and the View. I'm not the biggest fan of these acts, as I think they are a bit derivative, and the golden age of British indie was the 90s (with Oasis, the Seahorses, the Bluetones etc.) and the Oasis-lite working class anthem thing is wearing a bit thin. Try something a bit different! Well that's me at least, and who am I to argue with the thousands, if not millions who like that stuff. Do as you will and all that.

As for what's happening now in Scotland that I could recommend to my readers, Kilmarnock's Biffy Clyro are an energetic grunge/indie/folk trio, who sound to me like Nirvana would if Kurt Cobain wasn't such a miserable git and was from Ayrshire, rather than Washington. They've been plugging away on the underground scene for years, but their most recent album Puzzle has seen them start to make big waves - holding their own as Muse's support act is no mean feat. I'm really looking forward to seeing them on 20th December. This is their most recent single "Mountains" which was the soundtrack to my summer...



Glasvegas have also (to my surprise) achieved considerable critical and increasing commercial success in recent months. I would never have expected an old school rockabilly style band who sing in a THICK Scots accent to be accepted by the mainstream press, even here in the UK. I'm really pleased the are, because they are a breath of fresh air in a scene increasingly dominated by bands who wish they were Mancunian. Like Idlewild, and Biffy Clyro I can only salute a band that gets over the top, wearing their natural accent with pride, rather than the affected accents adopted by many Scots acts, ashamed of their regional identity. That, and I was in training for a soulless call centre job with one of them, and he was a nice guy. Check out "Geraldine" and "Daddy's Gone" on YouTube.

Those who know many of the bands I've been talking about will notice that Scottish bands who achieve success tend to be of a rather indie persuasion and I don't think it's any stretch to say that Scotland has never really produced any really notable 'alternative'* or metal bands (except perhaps at this juncture, the above mentioned Biffy Clyro.) As a dedicated follower of all that is loud, distorted and angry this kind of gets to me, as it would be nice to have some home grown hard rock heroes to pull for, rather than giving so much love to bands from California, Washington, Boston, Gothenburg and Birmingham. We nearly had Mendeed make it to the big leagues, but they faltered at the test.

Of course there is a vibrant hard rock scene in Scotland, but I'm talking about bands which have made it, with record deals and playing abroad and such things. I'll get to the real underground later.

* I have been pulled up on occasion for using 'alternative' and 'indie' to mean different things, let me explain. In the UK, 'indie' is pretty much the sum of mainstream music that doesn't involve choreographed dancing or a DJ. So, to me, 'alternative' stands for the underground stuff that is louder, and is an all encompassing term than includes punk, metal, industrial, etc. - I appreciate that this is different in the States, so sorry if I seem to be contradicting myself.

So, with the potted history out of the way, the vague box-ticking of pre-history, and MY view of the nineties and noughties now a matter of record, and I will apologize if it turned into a litany of the significant Scottish acts of the last half century, but it seems that per head of population, Scotland has done rather well sales wise and really well as far as critical acclaim goes.

Given that my own rational for success was 'widespread and influential' I cannot deny Scotland's influence and importance, especially in the field of indie music (although we have our share of important electronica artists like Boards of Canada.)

However, the likes of Simple Minds, the Bay City Rollers and perhaps Snow Patrol apart, it seems that Scottish acts are incapable or unwilling to achieve long term mainstream success. The likes of Travis became genuine heavyweights in Britain, and then took a too-long hiatus, reducing their fame, back to a (perhaps) more comfortable level. Scotland's recent history is littered with bands who have achieved cult and critical success without ever becoming as big as other bands in their field. Thus we have never produced a band as big as U2 or Metallica let alone a Beatles, Rolling Stone or Elvis Presley. Of course this is a ridiculously high bar to set, but it also seems to me that our acts seem to lack to longevity at the top level of chart awareness that characterizes the likes of the Manic Street Preachers, the Stereophonics, Oasis and from overseas, the likes of the Foo Fighters or a thousand other such bands.

The reasons for this are twofold, in my view. Firstly, Scotland is geographically and culturally isolated from the established centers of the music industry (London, New York and Los Angeles) and it is hard for bands from any other part of the UK to get a record deal, without all but decamping to London. This isolation is compounded by the BBC (the main media gate-keeper for all forms of British pop culture) all but dominating the Scottish music scene, at least as it pertains to a mainstream audience, and Aunty Beeb is all too happy to treat Scotland as a world unto itself, happy to make bands big here, but being rather reticent about promoting them south of Hadrian's Wall. Perhaps I shouldn't lay the blame at the foot of the BBC, and just chalk it down to the cultural divide between Scotland and other parts of the UK - but then why are Oasis, Kasabian, the Stereophonics and the like hugely popular here, even more so than our home grown acts? I'd take a fired up Idlewild or Biffy Clyro over any of them, any day of the week!

However, Scottish bands DO make it to a level of fame that makes them known across the UK, and even abroad (I'd be very disappointed if most people reading this column hadn't at least heard of, or developed an opinion about half of the bands I've mentioned) but there seems to be an inbuilt resistance, on the part of the artists to take it any further. It seems to me to be part of our Scots character to shy away from the garish excess of genuine rock star success - we like to play music, we like to do it well, passionately and be told so, but we don't like the bright lights of the festival headline slot, we don't take well to the prospect of spending a year and a half of a massive world tour. Or so it seems to me.

There is a saying in Scotland, often applied to our famous sons who go abroad and find success, often becoming in our eyes 'less Scots', less humble, less one of our underdog nation in the process. That phrase is 'I kent his faither' (I knew has father) and it is a derogatory phrase, implying that 'his father' was such a good, hard working man, and how shameful it is that his son turned out to be such a vain, un-Scots showman type. I have heard this used in reference to Billy Connelly, Ewan MacGregor, Sean Connery and more than a few others. Perhaps Scottish bands shy away from the bright, bright lights, because they'd rather remain heroes at home, than get huge success but become near-exiles in the process?

Maybe that's why Malcolm and Angus Young of AC/DC never play up their Scots roots (and more to the point have decided to omit Scotland from their current world tour - rotters!)

Then again, maybe as an avowed follower of all things alternative, loud and deviant, I shouldn't concern myself with our apparent lack of 'multi-platinum recording artists' but glory in our deeply influential underground scene....

...the problem being that I find most of the bands we produce who ARE loud and deviant tend to want to be from somewhere else, either power/death metallers who dearly wish to be Scandinavian, or Firewind, horribly derivative emo acts who think names like Every Scar is a Victory are clever or even remotely acceptable or reasonably (by my standards) generic alt.rock acts who unfortunately don't have that great an audience here, as all the 'cool kids' are listening to the Ting Tings...(shakes head in bewilderment)

I think that'll do, I guess I'll finish up, lest I write the longest and most rambling column in the history of 411.


As The Crow Flies over…Scotland - a summation

So my initial supposition that Scotland had NOT punched its weight in terms of popular music has been blown out of the water. Simple Minds and the Bay City Rollers were huge, Snow Patrol and KT Tunstall are doing pretty damned well right now, and we have a huge bundle of bands from Belle & Sebastian to Mogwai whose critical appeal and influence far beyond these Albion shores far outstrips such shallow criteria of success as mere record sales.

It seems to me that in the start of the modern era, Scotland was more than happy to remain within itself from a musical point of view, hence the pre-eminence of folk music, and we took our time to get with the cutting edge of pop and rock. Nowadays however we have reacted to many generations of being told we are a regional backwater by almost giving up our own identity, with the popular predominance of English originated indie bands (or Scots bands who play in that style, often disguising their natural accent,) and our hard rock scene is dominated by American and Scandinavian bands.

However, there are VERY Scottish acts who are making a dent, with a burgeoning IDM and breakcore scene, KT Tunstall talks eloquently about Scotland, and is clearly a (well spoken) East coast Scots lassie, and Biffy Clyro and Glasvegas are starting to make dents in their respective niches, both wielding noticeable Scots accents.

I'll admit that my own musical preferences have often led me to dismiss the Scots influence on indie (being a stubborn, arrogant sod, I have often dismissed indie music in my previous incarnation as a no-neck metalhead, a path which I regret and try to amend) as unimportant, and as such my own prior flaws have led me to be part of the problem in recent years, shunning the bands of my native land in favor of paying more to watch the foreign hard rock bands who pass through.

In short, Scotland has had an enduring influence on the path of popular music, with the likes of the Vaselines, Jesus & Mary Chain, Belle & Sebastian and Mogwai having influence far beyond their financial success, with genuine big hitters in rock and pop in Simple Minds and the Bay City Rollers and current day successes like KT Tunstall and Snow Patrol.

I think the music scene in Scotland is at a crossroads, where it can either atrophy further, to the point where our cities become culturally more like suburbs of Manchester or London, the folk contingent is ever more consigned to the highlands, and the independent spirit that has made this a fertile land for indie and experimental acts alike is quashed by degrees.

OR there is the path that I prefer, where we apply a little more Scottishness to the genres that pass through and more acts take a leaf from Biffy. KT, Snow Patrol and Glasvegas and strike out with their national pride intact to carry the flame of Scottish culture and identity onto the world stage. If I've got anything to do with it, that time is coming. Who's got a match?


The Murmur Round the Murder

There is nothing new on my menu this week, as it's been hellish at work and in that poor place in the middle of the month, a long way between paychecks. But don't let my shoddy fiscal state alarm you, for I'm going to show you some bands from where I'm from that haven't had enough press yet. I like them all, and there's something here for everyone. Yes, I'll admit they are all friends of mine, but have a look and maybe one day you'll be able to say you heard about them a LONG time before anyone else. That always makes me happy!

If you like your indie music, check out The Hazey Janes - I went to school with two of these guys and they are a great live act, and have produced some of the best sunshine indie music I have ever heard. It is a source of constant amazement to me that they aren't bigger than they are, Hotel Radio being one of my favorite indie albums ever.
Look them up at http://www.myspace.com/thehazeyjanes or even have a look at Popup - http://www.myspace.com/popuptheband who also rock.

If you like your heavy metal, then Madman is Absolute http://www.myspace.com/madmanisabsolute and Burning Earth - http://www.myspace.com/onceburningearth should tickle you plenty.

for those of an electronic mindset, check out Binary Zero - http://www.myspace.com/binaryzero for some chaotic noise, and Integra TV - http://www.myspace.com/integratv for some more laid back, Sigur Ros style awesomeness.

and finally, because they just might make it big, I offer you Logan - a band I think are great fun, a fantastic gig and it's just a shame that their kind of alt.rock isn't setting the heather on fire. Maybe they'd do better doing a Bush and tearing it up over the pond. Alter Bridge clearly like them, or they wouldn't keep having them support them on their European tours!
Have a look at http://www.myspace.com/loganmusic

That's about enough of that, but if anyone finds a new favorite band or any of the above get a few more hits on MySpace, I consider this a good use of my typing minutes. I sincerely hope you enjoy!

I hope this has been an informative discourse on the music of my country, I'll be the first to admit there are many bands I've omitted, or skipped over, so if there are any rabid Teenage Fanclub, Delgados or Proclaimers (and anyone else) fans out there, I apologize. I'll also admit I've let my own disgust at much of what is popular taint my reasoning and my arguments, but that's what editorial columns are all about. Please check out anything that seems interesting to you, I've had a lot of fun, and learned a lot more writing this column, and nothing is left but to leave you with a video by the band I'd most like to see become incredibly successful.




Till next week, where I'm going to go back to my alma mater of music, and start tracing of an overview of heavy metal, remember to train, take your vitamins and say your prayers.

Chris